ZAMBIA – WHILE the world is getting drenched in tears of sorrow at the passing of Queen Elizabeth, a visually-impaired man of Kabwata Township in Lusaka is shedding his own tears inspired by painful beatings handed to him by his cheating wife whom he says also denies him bedroom enjoyment.

Describing what he goes through at the hands of his 25-year old spouse, Mary Chitala as ‘brutal torture”, Paul Phiri aged 43 begged the Lusaka Boma Local Court to rescue him from his six-year old marriage.

Phiri complained that any slight argument with his wife usually ended with him receiving stinging Lilayi Police-kind of slaps which almost all the time, sent him staggering and colliding with walls or violently crashing to the ground.

As if that is not enough, Phiri also complained that he had been emotionally and psychologically tortured by the mother of his three children whose extramarital lover he identified as Hilary comes to their matrimonial home, sometimes as late as 23:00 hours to pick her up for sleepovers.

“She has been torturing me to an extent that sometimes she brings men in the house when am around in the bedroom, they cook and eat without acknowledging me” Phiri complained.

He told the court that his wife had also been neglecting an important cultural duty of pruning his genital lawn while denying him enjoyment under the sheets of their matrimonial bedroom.

After hearing all the accusations of abuse from her husband, Mary had a catalogue of accusations of  her own.

While admitting that she had indeed handed her visually-impaired husband a few Catherine Phiri-style beatings, Mary said the whoopings were self-motivated because he was in the habit of picking fights with her.

She told Senior Local Court Justice some time last month, without leaving any money at home told her he was going to have a good time with thigh vendors of night because they delivered better fleshly enjoyment to him than her.

She said on several occasions, Phiri told her the reason he married her was to get a degree which he managed hence he no longer needed her.

“He told me that he does not want me , he asked several times why I was clinging to a blind man,’ she said.

After an exchange of accusations before the court, Justice Chibesakunda dissolved their union on the basis that there was too much unreasonable behaviour from both parties.

The court ruled that Phiri gets custody of two children while Mary remained with the baby.

He ordered Phiri to compensate his ex-wife with K5,000 and maintain the baby with K500 every month.